


if you leave (please don't take my heart away)

by skeleton_twins



Category: Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Almost Kiss, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apologies, Beaches, Confessions, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Introspection, Kinda, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Past Abuse, Permanent Injury, Recovery, Reunions, Time Skips, also it starts after the tournament so mentions of johnny's trauma too, anyways they're in love, but like so brief blink and you'll miss it, daniel still works at mr. miyagi's little trees because i say so, pretty much my version of what happened posts karate kid films, very brief mentions of terry silver and mike barnes and daniel's trauma from that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27307972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeleton_twins/pseuds/skeleton_twins
Summary: Daniel still dreams about that night on the beach and of bruises the color of the ocean and his regrets of leaving. He thinks that even now he could taste the salty air on his lips and the grainy touch of sand dusting the soles of his feet.But he doesn’t see Johnny Lawrence again.OR the slightly angsty beach fic where Daniel and Johnny meet up on the beach the night after the tournament and they both live with regrets.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 20
Kudos: 121





	if you leave (please don't take my heart away)

**1984**

There are bruises on Johnny’s throat. In the moonlight, they look dark. A deep indigo blue that almost matches the unrestful waves stirring the ocean, disrupting the smooth surface. It’s a sort of darkness that makes you believe the sky is bleeding right into the waters below. Barely anything separating the inky black night sky from the shimmering ocean. 

It’s nearing midnight and the beach is empty.

Well. Almost empty.

The sand caves under his bare feet—Daniel had kicked off his sneakers the second he parked and left them behind, lying on the floorboard of his yellow convertible. He has never been barefooted so much in his entire life, certainly not back in Newark where broken glass littered the streets. The soles of his feet are getting tough, calluses growing from walking against the burning concrete back at the apartments to the wooden floors of Mr. Miyagi’s dojo to sandy beaches. 

He wasn’t planning on going to the beach when he told Mr. Miyagi he needed to clear his head. It was hours after the tournament. He had accomplished the unthinkable: he won. Daniel thought he would feel different—even though he and probably most people were convinced that there was no chance in hell he’d ever actually win the damn thing—sure, he felt victorious, but there was something else lurking in between the pride. Something that unsettled him, that he couldn’t quite shake. 

There hadn’t been a destination insight when he had pushed the key into the ignition and the engine roared to life. He drove and drove and winded up at the very place this all started: the beach.

Of course, Johnny Lawrence had to be there too. 

He sits, quietly, near the shore. His red leather jacket is crumpled in a heap beside him, along with his shoes, and there’s something dark in between— a thin black strand that Daniel recognizes as the one Johnny normally wore tight around his forehead. The water laps, against sand, against Johnny’s bare feet. His jeans have been messily rolled up to his calves. They’re pale. It’s the kind of pale that shines brightly under the moonlight. 

Johnny stares straight ahead into the waters, gaze unwavering, even when Daniel stops just a few feet away. He’s too distracted, seemingly lost in his thoughts to notice Daniel approaching. It’s noiseless—the sounds of soft footfalls on the sand drowned out by the ocean before them. The only evidence is temporary, the remaining footprints left behind in the cool sand, before they, too, will be washed away. 

“Hi,” The greeting escapes with a breath. It’s softly spoken, something unusual between them. There is no whispering with them, only shouting and panting in between punches. Daniel pauses as Johnny flicks his eyes away from the dark ocean and onto him.

At first, the only thing Daniel notices is the furrowed eyebrows, the twitch of a jaw: a telltale sign of anger brewing in icy blue eyes. He swallows, shifting his weight awkwardly and uneasily off his injured leg. He knows he can’t run away, not in this shape. 

But the angry expression melts within seconds. The fight left him just as fast as it arrived. It’s then Daniel realizes Johnny has been crying. There’s a sheen over his face, trailing down his cheeks. The moonlight pooling in teardrops clinging to his blonde eyelashes. 

“Hey…” 

Daniel stands there with Johnny’s eyes on him. Unmoving. There’s usually tension building in his muscles when he’s around Johnny, shoulders hitched to his ears as he waits for the inevitable fist flying towards his face. But all that tension had drained the second Johnny handed over his trophy. 

_“You’re alright, LaRusso.”_

Daniel stares a little bit longer, opens his mouth, and then snaps it shut again. He’s frozen just like before back in the parking lot. Dumbfounded. 

“What are you doing here, LaRusso?” There’s no heat to his words. No bite. He sounds exhausted. Voice hoarse from all the crying.

“Uh, mind if I sit?” Daniel ignores the question. He doesn’t really know the answer himself. 

Johnny narrows his eyes, studying him a little bit longer, long enough to make Daniel feel uneasy again. In the end, Johnny shrugs, turning his face once more to the ocean ahead. 

It takes a few minutes for Daniel to ease himself down onto the sand without straining his knee, wincing and grimacing the whole while, but he swallows down any complaint that rises on his tongue. 

The ocean provides noise, preventing any real silence from growing between them. The tides lazily push and pull against the shore. It’s easy to let one’s gaze become hazy from staring too long at the waters, to become lost at sea. Maybe that’s why Johnny’s not speaking, not threatening, just sitting there staring ahead. 

Maybe Daniel just needs to offer a hand, to tug Johnny out of the deep waters. Maybe this time Johnny will accept it instead of throwing another punch.

“Shouldn’t you be out celebrating your victory with Ali?” Johnny unexpectedly speaks, breaking the silence finally, and Daniel almost startles from hearing him. The mention of Ali sours his tone, his expression murky. He refuses to look at Daniel.

Daniel shakes his head, then realizes the older boy still isn’t looking at him. “Yeah, uh—no. No, we’re not together if that’s what you mean. I mean, Ali’s a nice girl. I like her a lot. But—” 

That catches his attention. Johnny turns to look at him, quirks an eyebrow. “But?” 

“But, uh, we’re just friends.” It’s a half-truth, but Johnny didn’t need to know the other half of it. They _are_ friends and nothing more, that’s true, but there’s more to it. A lot more. Daniel stares at him, watching and waiting for a reaction. 

Johnny nods, looking a little pleased with the news of their breakup. It’s enough to stir jealousy in Daniel’s gut. 

Johnny’s eyes flicker down to LaRusso’s leg, no doubt at the knee that he and his buddies inflict damage on. There’s guilt written all over his face. “Sorry.” 

“Whatcha sorry for?”  
  


Johnny rolls his eyes as Daniel has seen plenty of times before. Only this time he doesn’t seem actually annoyed by him. “You know.” He points at Daniel’s knee. 

“Oh, yeah, that.” Johnny snorts like he couldn’t believe Daniel would forget. “No, seriously, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” 

Johnny gives him a funny look that Daniel can’t quite read. He doesn’t look too convinced, that’s for certain. “It doesn’t take much for you to forgive someone, does it?” 

“Yeah, well—” Daniel can’t explain why his face warms at this. “I know it wasn’t you. It was your sensei.” 

Johnny drops his gaze towards the ground, burying his toes deeper into the cool sand as he doesn’t say anything for a long time. Daniel’s afraid that maybe he messed up by bringing up Kreese, before he gets a chance to apologize, Johnny speaks up again. 

“Shouldn’t you go to the hospital or something?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Daniel grins, despite himself, and his grin widens when he spots the corner of Johnny’s mouth twitching like he’s fighting a smile. “C’mon, let’s go together. I can drive us both.” 

The older boy shakes his head. “Does it hurt, your knee?” 

“Not too much when I don’t move. Mr. Miyagi fixed me right up. Does yours?” 

Johnny nods. “A little.” 

Daniel frowns as he remembers the way Johnny struggled in his sensei’s chokehold, trying to break away. His eyes drop to the older boy’s neck, eyeing the bruise. He probably does need to go to the hospital. They both do. 

“Well if you refuse to go to the hospital then I guess I gotta do a little LaRusso magic.” 

Johnny lifts his head, gazing at him like he’s grown another head. He repeats, “LaRusso magic? What’s that supposed to be?” 

“Something my Ma taught me. Supposed to cure anything.” Daniel pauses, pretending to really think it over. “It’s a family secret though...I don’t know if I should tell you.”

It works. Johnny’s mouth twitches again into one of his half-smiles. He looks amused and curious enough now. He leans in a little closer too. “You can tell me.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.”

Daniel doesn’t even try to fight it. He’s smiling so wide his cheeks aches with it. “Okay, but you can’t tell anyone. It’s a secret. Gotta take it to the grave, man.” 

“Yeah, yeah I promise.” Johnny rolls his eyes again, but he’s smiling. “Give it your best shot, LaRusso.” 

They’re inches apart now. Up close, the bruises shine various shades of purple and blue with specks of blood scattered throughout. Daniel’s jaw slackens as he meets Johnny’s gaze. His lips part but nothing comes out. No apologies or warnings, or confessions. No half-truths spilling out. 

_He looks beautiful,_ Daniel thinks. 

The moonlight shines bright. It causes their skin to glow underneath it. Maybe, it’s the moon that’s pulling them closer just like the tides. Before their mouths could meet, Daniel dips his head, lips softly landing on Johnny’s throat instead. 

Johnny gasps.

He worries for a moment that Johnny’s going to shove him away, but that fear dies as Johnny’s head lolls backward, giving Daniel more room to explore. Daniel’s mouth is gentle, barely grazing over the bruised, tender skin. He murmurs without realizing he’s speaking in between the kisses. Whispers he won't remember later. He kisses and kisses until he runs out of bruises.

Daniel places one last kiss on Johnny’s adam apple. It’s left bobbing in his throat as he swallows after Daniel pulls back. 

Johnny blinks open his eyes. 

Daniel swipes his lips with his tongue, an involuntary action. His fingers twitch and he almost brings them to his mouth but stops himself halfway. His lips tingling from the kisses. He’s waiting for Johnny to spit acid at him, to knock Daniel senseless. Beat him to a pulp and leave him for the ocean to catch in its tide and wash him away.

He does none of those things. 

Bright blue eyes are staring at him. Confused. 

It’s then Daniel feels the panic surging up in him and he jumps to his feet. He regrets the sharp movement immediately. His knee’s throbbing and he scrambles backward, throwing out breathless excuses into the wind, hoping that one of them sticks. 

He doesn’t look back as he hobbles away, not even when Johnny calls after him. 

“Daniel! Wait!” 

There’s relief when he sees the blurry yellow of his convertible becoming clearer, closing the distance to his escape and gaining it from Johnny. He moves fast, faster than he should with a banged-up knee. He’ll regret this in the morning. He’s regretting it now. His feet kick up sand as he leaves. Desperation causes perspiration to drip down his forehead, stinging his eyes. His heart’s pounding so loud it echoes and rings in his ears, drowning out noises of the ocean and his name being called. 

Before Daniel peels away, he lifts his eyes one last time and spots a lonesome figure through the dusty windshield. There Johnny stands, dejected, arms fell at his side. He’s close enough that Daniel can tell he’s breathing hard with the way his chest heaves, falling and rising fast as if he had chased after him. Their eyes meet across the sands and Daniel hesitates. For a split second, time seems to halt, standing still only momentarily. It's in those mere seconds Daniel considers staying. He can see it play out: switching the engine off and tossing his keys aside onto the driver seat, pushing the door open, and meeting Johnny halfway. 

But time unfreezes and Daniel makes a choice. 

He leaves.

**Interlude**

His knee never heals completely. It twinges on stormy days, but Daniel ditches the crutches and can walk just fine. He can still do karate, but he avoids fights and pretty blond boys with bright blue eyes even if he feels the weight of a heavy gaze on him the rest of his senior year. He graduates and then Daniel leaves with Mr. Miyagi for Okinawa. 

Daniel comes back with bruises that don't get kissed and he doesn’t go to college. He spends the semester pruning bonsai trees in a dusty broken-down shop that needs a lot of work, but it feels like home. 

And then Terry Silver and Mike Barnes come along and his knee hurts more often than not and with bloody knuckles, his balance gets uprooted. 

He makes mistakes and learns. Mr. Miyagi puts the wires in place, shaping him once more, and Daniel regrows. 

Daniel still practices his katas in the backyard of Mr. Miyagi’s place, but he never competes in another karate tournament.

And Daniel still dreams about that night on the beach and of bruises the color of the ocean and his regrets of leaving. He thinks that even now he could taste the salty air on his lips and the grainy touch of sand dusting the soles of his feet. 

But he doesn’t see Johnny Lawrence again.   
  


**1992**

Mr. Miyagi’s Little Trees stays busy during the mornings. It’s never quite a rush, but it gets pretty crowded and bonsai trees are moving faster than Daniel can count and return change. 

He’s relieved when the sun dips lower in the sky and the last customer of the day finally leaves. The door opens and a shower pours inside, casting the room in an orange glow. They’re still open for another hour, but typically it’s dead at dusk’s arrival. Daniel will stay longer even after they close, cleaning the shop up for the next day and trimming tiny branches. 

Mr. Miyagi had left earlier, off tending to errands while Daniel ran the shop. So Daniel sits alone, behind the counter, surrounded by several bonsai trees. He toes off his shoes and grimaces. His knee had been hurting since he woke up today. The pain was barely noticeable this morning, but steadily growing worse as the day progressed. He slips a hand under his thigh and lifts carefully, easing his stiff leg up to rest against the countertop, elevating his knee. Daniel wiggles his toes and the joints crack and pop sharply in the quiet, deserted shop. 

He’s older now, a few years shy of thirty, although there’s little evidence of it in the mirror’s reflection. His body feels the change though, specifically his knee. It hurts more frequently the older he gets. He gets it checked at least once a year even though they don’t do much except tell him that the early stages of arthritis are starting to set in. Mr. Miyagi helps with the pain better than the actual doctors do. 

He’s talking as soon as he hears the wooden chimes ring out near the entrance. Not even bothering to look up to see who the newcomer was as he works the muscle in his leg, digging his thumbs deep on each side of his aching knee. “Hey, Mr. Miyagi, listen, my knee is killing me today. You got any more of that—” 

There’s a loud cough, someone awkwardly clearing their throat. It didn’t sound too much like Mr. Miyagi either. Daniel yanks his eyes away from his leg and onto bright blue eyes.

_“Johnny?!”_

Daniel jerks backward and for a mere moment he can see the alarm on the blond’s face and Daniel suddenly understands the panic—his world is tilting and he’s falling. One second he’s staring at Johnny Lawrence standing in his and Mr. Miyagi’s little shop and the next: the floor. 

The pain surges and peaks and he expects to hit the cool surface of a mat, to fall and land back in 1984 where he’ll curl into himself and struggle to hear Bobby Brown screaming apologies in his face. It hurts. His entire leg’s set inflamed. Tears springs to his eyes, a harsh sting, and Daniel’s paralyzed from the pain.

_Mr. Miyagi will come_ , Daniel thinks. _He can fix this._ _Everything will be okay._

When strong arms encircle around him, Daniel blinks, forcing his eyes open, and sees not his sensei but Johnny Lawrence instead. 

“Dan—” Johnny slips. He shakes his head and tries again. “LaRusso, you alright?” 

Daniel tilts his head back and does not expect the soft cushion of Johnny’s shoulder. He stares at him. Mouth’s agape and brown eyes wide open. There’s a fluttering of eyelashes as he blinks and blinks once more. His vision swarms and clears. He almost wants to pinch himself to see if he’s dreaming, but he doesn’t hear the roar of the ocean nor does he see any lingering bruises so Daniel knows this isn’t another dream. 

“ _You’re here_ ,” Daniel whispers, a little in awe, and it’s like a flare being struck and ignited when he notices the pink blush dusting across Johnny’s pale face. A spark flies in his gut, warming him from the inside out. 

Johnny huffs out, “Yeah, I’m right here. Did you hit your head on your way down or something?” 

This time it’s Daniel who blushes. He shakes his head, “Nah, I don’t think so...Why...What are you doing here?” 

He tries to move, to sit up, and immediately regrets the decision. A sharp pain explodes behind his kneecap, radiating down his leg. It’s overwhelming and Daniel isn’t able to stifle his cry in time. 

“Shit, LaRusso. Don’t—Just don’t move, alright?” Johnny orders. His voice is tight, emotions barely under control like a rubber band pulled taut, ready to snap under the pressure at any second. 

“Okay. Okay.” Daniel nods and tries to relax against him. If the color wasn’t drained from his face, he’d probably be blushing again. There’s a steadiness to the way Johnny holds him. His hands are gentle as they skirt along Daniel’s arms. He gingerly adjusts his position, shifting ever-so-slowly, not to jar Daniel’s leg with the movement. 

Johnny settles and takes Daniel’s weight easily like he always has been able to. Daniel kicks and Johnny catches his ankle with ease. Nothing has changed in eight years since he last saw him—Johnny’s still throwing him off-balance.

A heavy silence falls between them in the nearly empty shop. It lasts longer than Daniel would like. Quiet seconds stretching into quiet minutes. His mind is filled with static from the agony in his knee to the pressure of Johnny’s chest, solid and real, against his spine. Johnny breathes and Daniel listens, tries to match his pace. He’s too focused on that to ask the many questions he had: _Where have you been, man? What have you been up to these years? Did you know? Did you know about what Kreese and Silver did? Do you ever think about me after all this time? Do you remember that night on the beach?_

Daniel doesn’t ask any of the questions that threaten to spill from his lips. He waits until his knee stops throbbing in tandem with his pulse until the pain eases up enough that he’s able to shift away from his former rival. 

Johnny’s hold on him tightens momentarily before he realizes that Daniel can sit up just fine on his own without the support of Johnny’s chest. He moves away to sit beside Daniel instead.

“You sure you don’t need to go to a hospital?” 

Daniel almost smiles and shakes his head. 

“Alright.” Johnny ducks his head and he doesn’t look up for a long time as if he’s weighing something in his mind, turning it over and over until he speaks again, “Mind if I take a look at it?” 

Daniel sputters, “You wanna look at my _knee?”_

“Yeah, well I figured since it’s my fault.” 

“Johnny—” Daniel tries to interrupt, tries to ease his guilt with forgiveness. 

“—Although, in my defense, I hadn’t been expecting you to swoon over me that hard, LaRusso.” 

“I wasn’t _swooning_ .” Daniel shoots back, trying not to smile and losing. Everything is a fight when it comes to Johnny Lawerence and it was so easy— _too easy_ to slip back into their routine as if there weren’t the weight of eight years gone between them. It doesn’t feel like a single day has passed since the evening on the beach.

There are missing elements from that night: the ocean and its salty air. There’s no moonlight between them, but the sun’s setting, it’s color peeking through the windows of the shop, slithers of orange filling the cracks in the wood. 

Daniel starts to get up but is stopped with a soft touch placed on his calf. Johnny stills Daniel’s movement, eyeing him as if he’s searching for something. It takes a second before Daniel realizes he’s waiting for permission. Daniel swallows and shakily nods. 

He’s careful as he tugs gently on Daniel’s blue-jeans, pulling them upwards and exposing tanned skin. Johnny’s a lot more careful than Daniel ever remembers his touches being. If bruises were permanent there would be plenty left on his body—his ribs, his face—in the shape of Johnny’s fist. He was never used to this kind of tenderness from Johnny. 

“Doesn’t look swollen.” Johnny murmurs, dragging his fingertips over the kneecap. He doesn’t notice Daniel’s staring and Daniel doesn’t waste the opportunity to let his eyes linger longer than necessary. He studies the man before him—no longer the teenager he once knew. His hair was parted differently now, but still as golden as he remembers. He’s even taller than before and has a broader chest.

He still looks so beautiful. 

Johnny glances up with hands still on him, fingers resting in the dimples of his knee. Something is burning in his gaze. Something familiar too—the way half of his mouth quirks into a smile. 

“Does it hurt?” 

Daniel nods dumbly. The pain had faded a little, but it was still sore. 

Johnny hums quietly. “Well, I know a trick that should help. Something I learned a long time ago from a friend.” 

He leans down and plants a single kiss onto Daniel’s knee. There is barely any pressure, his mouth grazes his skin ever-so-lightly, but it’s enough to shock Daniel to his core. A strike of lightning hit him directly and left a trail of goosebumps down LaRusso’s leg in its wake. 

Mr. Miyagi’s Little Trees is too far away to be able to hear the ocean waves even if you crack open a window. Daniel’s mouth parts slightly as he closes his eyes and listens to sounds from a memory. He remembers the water kissing the shore, he remembers moonlight and sand brushing against their skin. He remembers and remembers and stumbles as he gets lost in his memory.

“Daniel…” Johnny whispers and everything rushes back in. New sensations are replacing the ones from a former memory. The traffic outside the shop, a faint horn from the running train off in the distance. The hard press of cold wood digging into the back of his thighs. Daniel opens his eyes and Johnny’s closer now, carefully hovering above him with one hand cupping Daniel’s jaw and the other holding onto his injured knee. His fingers move, catching a stray tear on his fingertips. 

Daniel hadn’t even realized he had been crying.

Johnny stares at him as if Daniel’s stained glass and he’s seeing right through him. His eyelashes flutter as he struggles to keep his eyes open the closer Johnny gets until he’s just a breath away. Daniel doesn’t want to miss this. 

“Don’t leave, LaRusso. Please, don’t leave.” Johnny breathes against his mouth before he descends, closing the final inches between them.

He dreamt about this so many times, about that night on the beach where instead of kissing the bruises on Johnny’s throat, he meets Johnny halfway and tastes the salt on his lips. This feels better than any dream. 

The first kiss is surprisingly delicate. Chaste. Johnny gives a little room afterward, pauses for just a moment before diving right back in, hands curling around the nape of Daniel’s neck and tugging him closer. The urgency grows every time their mouths meet, its spills from them. A near decade’s wait is finally over. 

Johnny’s mouth is warm and soft and Daniel doesn’t ever want to stop kissing him. Anytime Johnny breaks for air, Daniel chases right back in, capturing his lips with a peck and another and another. The kiss deepens and they’re falling slowly like feathers in the air. Johnny eases him back onto the wooden floor and time melts away. 

Daniel doesn’t know how long they stay like that on the dusty floor of the little shop. He forgets about pretty much everything other than Johnny Lawrence. _Johnny. Johnny. Johnny._ He’s everywhere, kissing and touching, and every once a while between kisses running a gentle hand over Daniel’s bad knee like some kind of apology.

“Are you planning on running away again?” Johnny asks once they part for good, trying to catch their breaths. He sounds amused, but there’s hesitance on his face that he’s unable to hide. Johnny’s nervous.

Daniel breathes out a laugh, “Don’t think I can even if I wanted to.” 

They still hadn’t moved from the floor, even if it had started becoming rather uncomfortable. Daniel will feel this come morning. He doesn’t care though. Making out with Johnny Lawrence—something he dreamt about doing since _high school_ —makes any soreness and remaining aches worth it. 

Johnny nods, seemingly satisfied with his answer. “Why _did_ you leave?” 

“What?” Daniel turns his head to look at him, only to fail to meet Johnny’s eyes. He’s staring straight ahead. Daniel has seen this look before, a long time ago, except instead of the ocean, he’s peering up at the ceiling, at the shadows in the shapes of bonsai trees sitting on top of the counter. 

“You left, LaRusso. You kissed me and—and took off. I didn’t see you for years after that...Why?” 

Daniel doesn’t answer right away, struggling to think of the right words. He remembers that night vividly. Repeats it over and over again and daydreams about the things he would do differently. Daniel would’ve stayed and he tells Johnny this.

“I got scared,” Daniel admits. All the half-truths he buried in the sand that night gets uncovered. “That’s a lousy answer, I see that now, but it’s the truth. I...Johnny you were all I wanted then. Not Ali. Not anyone else. Just you. I was convinced that you would’ve hated me if you knew.” 

Johnny doesn’t say anything, doesn’t turn his head to catch his gaze. Daniel stares at his lovely profile, at the way his mouth twitches as if he’s trying to speak. He swallows instead, a ghost of movement as tendons shift under his skin. His throat was unmarked. He’s no longer wearing bruises like a necklace.

“I would’ve kissed you back.” Johnny quietly confesses. He twists his neck to the side, finally facing Daniel. “If you had stayed. I would’ve kissed you.” 

Daniel’s heart pounds faster and faster with every word spoken. His heavy gaze flickering between bright blue eyes and Johnny’s red, kiss-swollen mouth. His tongue is stricken as he repeats the admission, turning it over and over again in his mind. 

Johnny’s still watching him closely. Waiting for something. Maybe for Daniel to take the reins, to finally strike first for once. 

His knee still smarts, but it’s easy to ignore the slight ache as Daniel shifts closer. There was little room between them before and the sliver of space vanishes as he reaches out with a hand, placing it on Johnny’s broad chest. 

He’s still winded, still out of breath, Daniel can feel it underneath his hand as it rises and falls. He can feel Johnny’s heart. It’s racing too. 

“I’m here, John.” Daniel reminds him and almost startles when he feels Johnny’s hand clasping on top of his. “Right here.” 

It’s an olive branch he’s extending like a trophy being handed over to him years ago. An invitation for Johnny to kiss him over and over again and make up for the lost time, for the past eight years.

And Johnny accepts it easily, never letting go of Daniel’s hand while he kisses him over and over again.

  
  


**Epilogue**

He leaves a note resting in a pot of one of the bonsai trees. A scrap of paper Daniel hastily found in a desk drawer. His handwriting is messier than usual, too slanted and sloppy, and almost ineligible with the bits of soil coating the edges, stuck between letters. Mr. Miyagi will be able to read it though and will forgive him for his urgency when Daniel returns and everything will pour from him. Mr. Miyagi will be happy for him.

It’s nearing midnight when they arrive. Daniel switches the yellow convertible’s engine off and looks over at the passenger seat and finds Johnny’s stare already on him. Their shoes are the only thing that gets left behind as they disembark, tossed in the backseat. The beach is empty when they return and it’s exactly as Daniel remembers. It’s as if time had really frozen back in 1984 and been waiting for them to come back so it could finally thaw. 

The waters are softly stirring as moonlight dances across the surface. It shatters as it refracts and shines and it’s almost distracting, but Daniel’s unable to take his eyes off of Johnny for too long. The ocean’s tides’ gravitational pull guiding them closer and closer to the shore. 

Daniel limps towards the waters and Johnny follows. They’re still linked by hands, Daniel leading, his arm outstretched behind him, fingers curled around Johnny’s. They won’t swim, it’s much too cold for that, but they’ll sit in front of the ocean like all those years before. Johnny holds him steady, keeping an arm wrapped tight around Daniel’s waist and Daniel leans into his side probably more than he needs to, but Johnny doesn’t seem to mind. 

They sit like that for a while, in front of the ocean and under the moon with their bare feet tucked into the cool sand. 

Johnny laughs. It’s a gruff sort of noise, more of an exhale than anything else, that causes Daniel’s hair to move. His nose is buried into Daniel’s dark hair and Daniel thinks it must tickle, but Johnny doesn’t budge. 

“You gonna give me some more of that LaRusso magic of yours?” He teases and Daniel can feel a smile against his scalp. There’s a ghost of a kiss to his head before Johnny finally shifts away. Not too far though. 

Daniel glances at his throat, skin unblemished and pale, nothing resembling like the ocean anymore. His eyes inch up and catch the smirk that’s always directed towards him and no one else. 

Daniel leans in and kisses it. 

**Author's Note:**

> title from the song if you leave by OMD


End file.
